Keeping Balance
by silversprinklez10
Summary: Ever since the beginning of time, Notch and Herobrine were equal in power. But when one of the two starts to claim more power than the other and disrupt the balance between the two, only Jordan can stop him. But Jordan can't stop him without his friends finding out about his past he has hidden for so long. Is Jordan up to the challenge? Sequel to Dark Secrets.
1. Chapter 1

_**AN: I received a request to continue the story **__**Dark Secrets**__**. Since the story is finished, I decided to make a sequel to the story instead of adding a chapter to **__**Dark Secrets**__**. Please read **__**Dark Secrets**__** before this story. This is the first time attempting to publish a story with more than one chapter, so please be patient. I also won't be able to update often, so it will be a long time between chapters. I hope you enjoy this story, **__**.374**__**. **_

"Hurry up, Jordan! You're such a slowpoke!"

"I'm running as fast as I can, Ant!"

It is hard to catch up with Ant. It's been five years since I escaped from my father, yet Ant is still faster than me. Did I just say "my father"? I need to stop doing that. I can't call him that anymore. Now, I must call him Herobrine. I can never forgive him for what he has done to me. Ever. Besides, if any of my friends found out whom my father was…

"You ready for the mining trip?" Ant asks, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm ready," I respond. "Let's do this."

We head over to the cave and venture deep where we last left off. We know how deep to go down because of the torches. We reach our stopping point and continue down the cave. We continue mining using our method, one mines, one watches. How this works is one of us mines the vane spotted, and the other one deals with the mobs in the area. Every vane, we alternate positions. This method has always works for us.

I go to mine a huge vane of iron while Ant watches for mobs. I don't notice the low durability on my pick until it breaks. I then place down a crafting table and make another iron pick. I put the crafting table back in my inventory and begin mining again. I am almost done with the vane when I am interrupted by Ant.

"Please tell me I'm not seeing what I am seeing. Please tell me this is my imagination." Ant's voice is shaky. Ant is never like this. What's going on?

"What is so bad," I ask Ant. "You're not supposed to be afraid of anything."

"Please don't tell me I see two white eyes over there."

I freeze. No, he hasn't found me. This isn't real. Ant did _not_ say that right now. He didn't. I turn around, hoping Ant is seeing things. He isn't. I see a pair of white eyes staring at us. Why is Herobrine here? He means to capture me and return me to the Nether. I check to be sure my sunglasses are secure on my face so they don't fall off while Herobrine is here. I then remember what Ant asked me earlier.

"You aren't imagining things," I say. "I see a pair of white eyes."

Ant paled. "Herobrine, what is your purpose here?" Ant says, as bravely as he can. "What do you want?"

The voice I haven't heard in five years responds to Ant. "What is balanced is now unbalanced. I have done my part all these years. And yet, my brother forgets the importance of balance. If too carried away, he will unintentionally destroy Minecraft."

"What do you mean, he will unintentionally destroy Minecraft?" I ask, surprised at my courage to speak. "What's going on?" Even though I hate him, I am willing to listen.

"A balance of the Aether and the Nether must exist for Minecraft to survive. Same goes for the over world and the End, but that's a different story. Lately, my brother, Notch, has been limiting my power to the point where it threatens the future of Minecraft. If he keeps this up, Minecraft will no longer exist. He believes a world without me is better, but in reality, we need each other in order to survive."

"How are we supposed to know you're telling the truth?" Ant asks. "You could be tricking us."

Herobrine steps into the light where we can see him, and I know he isn't that good at acting. He can't do the proper make up for this look either. His eyes have bags under them, his skin is a sickly white, almost as white as his eyes, and he has a cane to support himself. His legs tremble underneath him, like he's about to fall. I know he always shows himself at his strongest, and if this is his strongest, he is very weak. Even if he did treat me badly, he doesn't deserve this. I look at Ant, and he looks horrified, even more so than before.

I say the words a Minecrafter should never say. "How do we stop Notch?"

Ant looks at me like I'm crazy. Well, yes, I am crazy. But that's not the point. But still, even Notch shouldn't always get what he wants. It's easy to see why Notch thinks he can get away with such an act. Everyone hates Herobrine and loves Notch. No one would protest to the end of Herobrine. But if it means the end of the world, then Herobrine should stay.

"Jordan, maybe he's drained, but that doesn't mean the world will end," Ant says to me. He then focuses his attention to Herobrine. "Prove Minecraft is ending."

Shoot. I'm acting suspicious, like I know Herobrine is telling the truth. I hope Herobrine won't suspect me. I know he's telling the truth because I've been around him long enough to know him. Ant doesn't know that.

"Minor changes will happen first," Herobrine says. "Like durability glitches and mob color changes. Look at the durability of that pick axe." He points to the pick I'm holding. Its durability is low, even though I crafted it a minute ago and only mined three pieces of iron.

"Five uses left," I say.

Ant's mouth hangs wide open. "We just made a pick before coming down here. How?"

I need to make Herobrine's point more clear. "And that one broke while I was mining the iron, so I made another one. And now this pick is low after mining a few pieces of iron."

Ant sighs in defeat. "Fine. How do we stop Notch?"

Herobrine says an answer so frightening, I wish I never asked this question before Ant did. "Only one person can stop Notch. I'm looking for him. Twenty years ago, I met a woman named Jewel. I don't remember every detail after that, but I do remember her charming me and eventually, we had a son. Jewel insisted he be named Sparklez, who is supposed to sparkle terror in you, and I couldn't refuse her. So he became known as Captain Sparklez.

"I wanted to raise him to be like me. I should've realized his feelings about the way I acted. Five years ago, he ran from home. When I figured this out, I couldn't control my anger, and I took it out on Jewel. In my grief…" Herobrine paused, took a deep breath, and continued. "When I realized what I had done, my sadness increased. I had lost my family. And now that I am losing my power, my son is the only one who can defeat him. But he ran away, so I don't know where he is. Without him, Notch can't be stopped."

No, no, no, no. That is _not _what I want to hear. Not at all. Based on the story, Herobrine misses my mom and me. Should I reveal myself? No, not with Ant here. I don't want him to know. If he finds out, I'll never be safe, knowing he knows my secret. But I know I have to save Herobrine. There is no question about it. But, I know there is going to be a catch to saving Herobrine. Two, actually. The first is I will have to go back to the Nether. But it is the second one that I am most afraid of. Nothing else can explain my disappearance.

The second catch is I will have to reveal to my friends who I am.

_**AN: Besides this story, how many stories have you read where Notch is the antagonist of the story? Answer me honestly here.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**_Disclaimer: I'm sorry I didn't include this in the first chapter, but I do not own Minecraft or any you tubers in this story. I also don't own Notch or Herobrine._**

"Cave! You have to believe us! We'll prove it to you! At least let us show our evidence! Please?"

After the encounter with Herobrine, Ant is set on finding Herobrine's son, and I can't do anything about it. I've tried to explain the difficulty of finding Herobrine's son, but Ant is set on saving the world. He can be very stubborn sometimes. So now, here we are, trying to convince our friend Dan, or Cave, to help us. After Cave joins us, Ant wants to go to Ryan (xRpMx13) and ask for his help as well. I don't want them to look out for a son of Herobrine, but they should know about the durability glitch.

"I'd like to see any evidence you can come up with for this absurdity," Cave responds. "I'd be interesting to watch."

Cave comes outside to look at Ant's evidence. I know what it is going to be. He's going to demonstrate the glitched durability to Cave. Then it will be twenty minutes of Cave checking to see if any of the mods caused the glitch… oh shoot. We didn't check that. I have to check that out now before we go any farther. It better be a glitch and not a mod.

"Um, Ant, Cave, I'll be right back," I say. "I need to check something out. I just remembered something important."

"Okay, come back here when you're finished," Ant responds. "We'll wait for you."

I run where no one can see me and use my admin powers to enter the control area for the server. I am about to go where mods are installed when I notice the control area is different. And not in a good way. The signs that usually tell you which areas are which now have random letters all over them. The number of people on the server is "recalculating", and the list of banned people is non-existent. The mods on the server are updating; even the older ones that were installed a year ago are updating.

This will gain Cave's curiosity and further motivate Ant. Now, it doesn't look like I can hide my identity any more. Just what I need. I exit the control area and go back to Cave and Ant. I'm surprised that Ant is still trying to convince Cave to make a diamond pick. Cave doesn't want to waste the diamonds, I understand that, but Ant didn't give him any? I take three diamonds from my inventory to give to Cave.

"I really don't want to waste three diamonds on this! Why is this necessary? Why are you insisting on me doi—"

"Here's three diamonds, Cave," I say, giving him the three diamonds I pulled out earlier.

"Why did I not think of doing that earlier?" Ant says. "I'm really dumb, aren't I?"

Cave laughs as he makes a diamond pick. Cave inspects the diamond pick, expecting for there to be a problem with the pick. I silently laugh to myself as I imagine Cave's reaction to the durability of the pick. Poor Cave. He'll be so confused.

"Don't just stare at the pick!" Ant says. "Use it!"

Cave digs with his hands until he reaches stone. He takes the diamond pick and mines one piece of stone. Once he sees he received cobble, he continues, not noticing how quickly the durability of the pick is going down. The pick breaks when Cave mines his first piece of iron, which isn't far down. Cave's mouth is wide open in shock. Ant and I start to laugh at Cave's confused face.

"How…?" Cave looks at us. "This better not be a mod! If it is, you're dead meat!" He stares at us, waiting for a response.

I answer for Ant because he didn't know about the condition of the control room. "I checked it out earlier. It isn't a mod. You can go see for yourself. We can all go together. You'll see we're not lying."

Ant looks relieved. We all go to the control room together after we are sure no one can enter after us. Ant and Cave freeze as they take in the sight around them. The sight of the signs and all the messed up details still take me by surprise. Both Cave's and Ant's jaws are dropped lower than I have ever seen them. Their eyes are bulging out of their sockets.

"Wha…" Cave whispers. "What is…?"

"…Going on?" Ant finishes for him. Then, Ant's eyes fill with the determination that is within Ant. "This is a side effect of the balance falling apart. Now, do you believe me, Cave? You know I wouldn't go as far as to mess up the control room. You know that. We need to restore balance and do this correctly. I'm not letting the world end! I don't care what I have to do. This world will _not_ end!"

Cave sighs. "Has he always been like this, Jordan?"

"Ever since we found out about this problem, yes," I reply. "Too motivated for his own good."

"Tell me the story again, will you, Ant and Jordan," Cave says. "I forgot the story."

We explain our encounter with Herobrine again. Cave's eyes go wide as he hears the story again, this time believing every word. By the time we are done explaining, Cave is scared, but motivated. I realize something as I look in the sky. How did all three of us miss this?

"It's already night time," I say. "Cave, can we stay at your house for the night? We should continue our adventure tomorrow, when we are all rested."

Cave and Ant look up at the sky. "Yeah, you can stay," Cave says. "I need some time to let this all sink in. I'm sure you're going to need it, too."

We all go into the house. Ant and I head upstairs to the guest bedrooms. We each pick our favorite, and get ready for the night. I go under the covers and think about the events of today and play them over and over in my mind. A few questions pop up. Is Herobrine really sorry about how he treated me? Do I have to do this? Why is Ant so set on completing this? Why does Notch want to end Herobrine for good if it means the end of Minecraft?

My father's magnified voice fills the area. "My son, if you are listening, I ask you to come to me. I will be in the place only the two of us know of." The unknown burnt down forest. It is close to here. "Meet me tonight. I just want to talk. I mean no harm. I want to talk about some issues that have popped up recently. Be there."

I know the topic he is going to discuss with me. Notch taking power. I also know one more thing. I am going, and Ant, Cave, or anyone else is going to stop me. I will talk to my father. I will save Minecraft, no matter the cost. I don't want to lose my friends. And that is why I have to go. If I go, I have a chance at keeping my friends. If I don't go, Minecraft is doomed.

**_AN: This chapter is up and written faster than expected. I'll try to get chapter 3 up next Wednesday, but no guarantees. I hope you enjoy this chapter!_**

**_-Sprinklez_**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Hello, I'm back. I said I'd try to upload by Wednesday, and Wednesday is here. Thanks to all the support on this story (and by all the support, I mean two reviews by the same person, which is more than I hoped for. Thank you, xxCelestiaMCxx!) One last thing before I present the chapter, I do not own Minecraft or any other things mentioned in my previous disclaimers. Without further ado, the story._**

I look at my clock again. It is currently 12:08 am right now. Perfect. Cave and Ant shouldn't be up at this early in the morning. I quickly dress in the clothes my mom gave me five years ago. I also take off my sunglasses. I don't want to be anything like Jordan during my visit. I must answer to the name Captain Sparklez, and I must call Herobrine father, the two very things I needed to avoid for the past five years. I exit out of the window, to avoid the problem of Cave or Ant hearing my footsteps.

I head to the burned down forest Herobrine said to go to. I tell myself I'll be all right, but it is hard to convince myself it will be. So many things can go wrong. This could be a trap, and _my father _can send me to the nether. Ant or Cave might notice my absence and suspect something. I might slip up either with Herobrine, or Cave and Ant after the trip, about my identity. I try to push those thoughts from my head, but they keep coming. I can mess up. I _will _mess up.

"My son," Herobrine says, jerking me from my thoughts. "You've grown up so much. Thank you for coming. You don't know how much I've missed you."

"What do you want," I ask. I have to act clueless about the whole Notch thing, or else Herobrine will notice something is not right. I don't want him to know I'm Jordan, one of the two he talked to in the mine.

"I want to talk about some things, some more pleasant than others," Herobrine says. "First of all, I have been facing some problems only you can solve." He then proceeds to tell me the unbalance between him and Notch and why this is a problem. "This problem can be solved by you. You will need to sneak in to the Aether. However, only groups of four to five mortals can compensate for the entrance of an angel, even though you are a demigod.

"Two others have heard my story and believe what Notch is doing is wrong. I want you to send a letter to them I wrote which explains the dilemma and solution of entering the Aether undetected. They should be willing to help. Of course, we will need one or two more people, but we should leave it up to them on who they can trust to take on the trip. I would send the letter myself, but because of this issue, I need to conserve my power." He hands me a letter, which I take from him.

"I understand, father. I will make sure they receive the letter," I say. "But, I will need more information on these two people you have mentioned. I can't deliver the letter if I don't know who they are. I know you taught me how to read minds, but I can't read yours. Also, if the situation is as urgent as you say, I don't have time to read everyone's mind just to find these two people." I know where to find us, but I need to convince him I know nothing but what he told me.

"Their names are Jordan and Ant," he says. He then describes what Ant and I look like, and where the mine was.

"I will find them and deliver the letter as soon as possible," I say.

"There's one final thing I want to say to you, Captain Sparklez," my father says.

"What is that, father," I ask.

"I understand if you don't want to come back to the Nether," he says, surprising me. "I realize you must still be angry at me. I should have realized the pain I was causing you. I had never raised a child before, so I never knew how to raise them. I am not good with children. But now I see how I treated you was wrong. I can't make up for what I did to you or your mother. I understand if you want to live in the Overworld. But, can you at least visit me once in a while? In the Nether, it is often lonely, and being with your mother and you was the best moment of my life. Can you try to visit?"

I am shocked at what he has said to me. The Herobrine five years ago would never apologize to anyone, not even his own son or girlfriend. I guess you can call my mom Herobrine's girlfriend. She certainly isn't his wife.

"I'll try," I say, because if he is apologizing, he must really be sorry. Herobrine is arrogant and proud, not one to use kindness as a weapon.

"Goodbye, my son," Herobrine says. He vanishes, leaving me alone with the note.

I head back to Cave's house, and enter through the window. I change back into what Jordan would wear, with the outfit and glasses I usually wear. I decide to take a risk in how I deliver this note. I walk out of my room and sneak into Ant's room, where he is fast asleep. I know he is a heavy sleeper, so he shouldn't wake up after this. I place the note on top of him and exit the room. Better the note be a real reaction from Ant than a fake reaction from me. I walk back into my own bed and fall asleep, knowing tomorrow, I need to convince Ant and Cave to let Ryan join us, or else the party won't be big enough for us to enter undetected.

**_I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story! If you want to, leave me suggestions on what you think should happen in this story, and if they fit the plot, I can add the ideas into the story. Also, I know this idea has been in lots of other stories, but if you want to ask either any of the characters in the story or me a question, feel free to in the reviews. If the question is directed towards me, you can also PM me. _********_I hope you enjoy, and have a wonderful day!_******

**_-Sprinklez _**


	4. Chapter 4

**_I'm finally back! And now to answer your question Celestia..._**

**_Herobrine: NO!_**

**_Sprinklez: HEY! I'm the author here. What I say goes. And I say Celestia gets to hug you._**

**_Herobrine: That's not fair! _**

**_Sprinklez" Oh, yes it is. He's all yours, Celestia!_**

**_Celestia: *Hugs Herobrine*_**

**_Jordan: Why is a random girl hugging my father?_**

**_Ant: Wait, what? Your father?_**

**_Jordan: Well, shoot._**

**_Cave: What did I miss?_**

**_Jordan: Nothing._**

**_Sprinklez: On another note, I don't own any you tubers, myths, blah blah blah, whatever. You get the point. And now, without further ado, the next chapter!_**

"Jordan, WAKE UP!"

Why does Ant have to be so loud? I sigh as I climb out of bed. I'm still tired from staying up last night, but it was necessary. I tell myself to be surprised about the letter. I slap myself a couple of times to wake myself up. I then head to the kitchen to eat breakfast and "learn" about the letter. I sit at the only empty spot at the table, which is closer to Ant than Cave.

"Okay," Cave says. "Now that Jordan is here, can you _please _tell me what you wanted to tell us, Ant?"

"Ant has news for us?" I ask, sounding confused.

"Yes, I do have something to show you," Ant says. He pulls out the letter I gave him and places it on the table.

"What is that?" I ask.

"It's a letter," Ant says. "From Herobrine. I found it on me this morning. I don't know how it got there."

"Cave grabs the letter before I can ask what is in the letter. "Let me read this!" Cave yells. He reads the letter, first in confusion, then determination. After he is done, he hands the letter to me. "Read this."

The letter explains what Herobrine told me last night, as well as ways to be undetected in the Aether and how to help Herobrine's son, such as ways to successfully distract angels without being detected and hiding places for us. He also tells us the more mortals are in the Aether, the less powerful Notch is, so it is vital for us to stay in the Aether undetected. It will make Notch even weaker if mortals are in his palace, but Herobrine says not to risk it if that means we will be caught. I hand the letter to Ant.

"So," I say. "The letter says bring three or four people with us. I say we should bring four because the letter says the more people are in the Aether, the weaker Notch is. Having more of us in the Aether will weaken Notch more."

"I agree," Ant says. "We need to go with the plan we had before this letter, and get Ryan to go with us."

"No time to waste, then," Cave says. "Let's go to Ryan and ask for his help."

We walk out the door and head for Ryan's house. As we walk there, I can imagine how thing will go wrong. What if Notch wins? I feel like the question should be "What will happen when Notch wins?" Notch _always _wins. Notch is the one all players look up to. He always has the most support and heroes rooting for him. If I went up to Sky Does Minecraft and asked him if Notch or Herobrine was better, he'd say Notch. All players feel the same way. The one thing I'm glad about is I convinced Ant and Cave to go with five people, including Herobrine's son. It would be bad if only three people traveled and we were caught.

I push these thoughts from my mind as the three of us approach Ryan's house. I hope we can convince Ryan to help us. He can be so odd at times, I don't even know what is happening anymore. He sometimes runs errands for Notch, making others believe he is actually Spider Man. I don't know why he wears a Spider Man costume all the time. I guess he has a thing with super heroes. I saw him wearing an Iron Man costume once when I was mining for iron with him.

Ryan randomly opened the door, not expecting for us to be there. All four of us jumped. We stared at each other for a moment.

"What are you doing outside of my house?" Ryan asks us.

As Cave and I stand there in shock at what happened, Ant answers the question for us. "We want your help on a mission we're doing."

Ryan sighs. "I thought I told Notch I'd get a break from doing his errands for him. I'm not interested. Good bye."

I quickly talk before Ryan can close the door. "This isn't a mission for Notch. If it was, we wouldn't come to you. We would go to Chim. He likes those missions more than you do."

Ryan pauses, then sighs. "Fine, come in, and we'll go more into detail inside."

We follow Ryan inside. Cave, Ant, and I take turns telling Ryan the story, starting with the caving trip with Herobrine all the way to arriving at Ryan's house. I, of course, leave out the part of me visiting Herobrine and putting the note on Ant. We show Ryan the durability glitch and the control room as evidence that out story is genuine. We also show him the letter Herobrine gave us.

"Well," Ryan says. "I'm going. But I can't dress like this, because Notch will recognize me if I do. So, stand outside, and I'll be out in a sec."

Cave, Ant, and I step outside and Ryan closes the door. Knowing him, he's going to dress up as another super hero. I don't know which one, though.

"What should we talk about while Ryan gets ready?" Ant asks.

"How are we going to get into the Aether?" Cave asks. "The letter said nothing about how we are going to get in. We got no time, no place, and no transportation. We don't want to go the usual way, because Herobrine wants us to stay in the Aether because it's a burden to Notch. How will this work?"

I hadn't thought of that. Shoot. With all my worrying with my identity, I didn't foresee this problem. Maybe Ryan has an idea. He knows the Aether better than I do. I wish I have an idea. We're relying on Herobrine's son to get us there, and since I don't know how to do it, we're screwed.

Ant fidgets. "Well..."

"Well, what?" Cave yells. "You come to get me and Ryan to help you save the world, and you have absolutely no way to get to the Aether undetected?"

Herobrine didn't exactly think this through. None of us did. This wasn't good. The mission failed before it even started. If we can't get into the Aether, it's gg. Notch wins. Keeping balance in this world is harder than I thought it would be. I guess Herobrine thought I knew how to sneak into the Aether successfully. Well, he was wrong.

Ryan walks out of his house in a batman costume. "So, how are we getting to the Aether? Or am I going to have to come up with a plan?"

"I don't think they have a plan," Cave says. "We're stuck here."

"Well, we can use my amulet..." Ant says.

"Your...amulet?" I ask.

"I don't know how, but my amulet gives me the ability to teleport anywhere, including different dimensions," Ant says. "I assume the Aether is no different."

"We should get going, then," Cave says. "I'm sure Herobrine's son is in the shadows, waiting for us to teleport him to the Aether so he can do his part. I'm ready."

Am I in the shadows? Even though I'm right in front of my friends, you can say I'm in the shadows. If we insist on sticking together, it will be hard for me to do my job. Even so, I may not have the power to defeat Herobrine. I wish I can have someone to help me in battle. I want an ally who can help me defeat Herobrine. Ant, Cave, and Ryan can't help me, even if they want to. While in these thoughts, I feel the power of light surround me as Ant teleports us to the Aether.

**_And that is the chapter! And now since I thought of the idea of character deaths, I have two in mind. Unless you _****really ****_don't want me to do them. Vote down below. If you really like the idea of people dying, you can request who you want to die below! Although some characters cannot die in order for the plot line to go where I want it to go. Also, still taking questions. And I hope this chapter is long enough for you! Well, I guess that's all I have to say. Have a nice day!_**

**_-Sprinklez_**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Sprinklez: Here's attempt two. I don't know why that chapter turned out like that, but I'm sorry. So let's get to what I have to say. You know in the first chapter how I said updates may take a long time? This is what I meant. And also, warnings for this chapter. Some of you may have noticed I changed the rating to this story. That is because of this chapter. And also, I think this chapter is horribly written, but this might actually be good. I don't know. If this attempt is successful, I'm going to delete my guest review which was actually me. But let's see how this goes. TO LE STORY!**_

The Aether is pure. Too pure for my eyes to handle. Having spent my childhood in the Nether, I'm not used to extreme light like the light in the Aether. I'm barely used to the light of the overworld, even with sunglasses. With the whiteness of the clouds plus the closeness of the sun, my poor eyes haven't adjusted yet, even with sunglasses on.

I try not to squint so much that my friends can notice, but enough so I can see. I don't understand how the three of them have already adjusted to the light. And how am I going to find time to defeat Herobrine? I did not think this through. First, the lack of transportation, now this problem. Well, at least my improvisation skills will improve. Improv will be key to complete this mission because of the lack of planning.

We walk around, all of us so awed at our surroundings that Ant is the only one who remembers to conceal ourselves with the clouds. In the letter, Herobrine told us how to do this task so angels couldn't see us. Our eyes are wide open, even though my eyes hurt like crazy. I look away from the sun, and my eyes slowly begin to adjust. It will still be a while before I won't have to squint anymore, though.

"I think we should split up to cover more ground," Ryan says randomly, being the strategist he is. "That way, we'll know the area better."

"Excellent idea, Ryan," I say. 'Thank you Ryan. You come up with the best ways to help me, even if you don't know it.' "We can meet back here at dusk."

"I like this idea," Cave says. "Let's do it."

The three of us turn to Ant, waiting for his answer. Ant is silent for a while, thinking about the pros and cons to the plan most likely, then he sighs. "Well... I guess I have to agree with you because you will pressure me if I don't. Let's go, and try not to be late upon your return."

All of us begin to walk in different directions, making sure angels can't see us by concealing ourselves with the clouds. As I walk away, I can't help but worry about Ant, Cave, and Ryan. It would be my fault if something went wrong. It's my job to stop Notch, not my friends'. What if they get caught? What if they forget about the deadline or forget where to meet? (Italicize) What if they die? (End italics)

I observe the angels, trying not to think about my friends. The angels are of all ethnicities with different styles of clothing. The only two colors the angels don't wear are red and black. Their wings are white, and some have golden halos above their heads. They are so innocent, just like Aurey. Oh shoot, Aurey is going to kill me if I'm gone for a long time. She worries about me too much.

"You are not permitted here," says a familiar voice. "What is your business in this area of the Aether?"

I turn to see Chim look at me. Underneath his glasses, I can see disappointment in his expression. He holds a white sword in his hand. I try not to focus on the sword. I look into his eyes, peer into his feelings with my mind-reading powers, and realize Chim feels more than disappointed. He feels betrayed and confused. His heart is lost, and he doesn't know how he should react. But why?

"What are you doing here?" I burst, taking my sudden anger out on Chim. "You never told me you'd be in the Aether." 'And why do you have to choose the side that will destroy the world? (Italics) Why do I have to be the rebel that betrays my good friend? (End)'

"You should know," Chim says, baffled. "I told you guys."

"When did you tell us you'd be in the Aether?" I demand. "I don't remember this. Was I even there?"

"I told you when..." Chim starts to say. He thinks, then his eyes widen. "Oh, shoot. Never mind. Well, here's the story. Notch called me up to tighten security while important events are happening. He says he has the enemy right where he wants him. He promises Herobrine will be destroyed soon."

How soon is soon? Peering into Chim's thoughts, he's relieved that Herobrine will perish. If only he knew the consequences, he wouldn't be happy. I wouldn't be in this situation, and I could focus on scouting. Why does Notch have to be smart and tighten security? Can't he assume no player will want to stop him? But I should have planned ahead. I haven't mastered erasing memories yet, and for the first time in my life, I wish I had. Now, I can see why those skills, though evil, are used by my father. Completing this mission is more important than my pride.

"Now that we are all caught up," Chim says, interrupting my thoughts. "I kindly ask you to leave. If you leave now, you won't be punished."

I hesitate. I don't know what to do. I don't have the courage to oppose Chim, but I don't have the courage to follow him either. Then, I think of Ant, Cave, and Ryan and about saving the world. I shake my head, because I have no other choice. I have to oppose Chim. No matter what the cost.

"My mission isn't complete," I say. "I can't leave yet."

Chim hesitates, shock overcoming his face for a few seconds, then he pulls out his sword.

"If you choose not to cooperate," Chim says, his voice shaking, "I'll use force to make you cooperate. There will be consequences."

I look through my inventory, and realize I have a sword with me. Good thing, because I didn't think about it before because of the stress of defeating Notch. I pull it out and face Chim. "Let's fight, then." I sound a whole lot braver than I actually am. On the inside, I'm shaking and afraid. I'll have to knock Chim out. I don't have to kill him. But still, I have a bad feeling.

Chim swings at me. I dodge and swing back. We continue to fight. After a while of fighting back and forth, I remember my father telling me to look the enemy in the eyes to help predict their next move based on their eye movement. When I look into Chim's eyes, I wish I didn't. Tears stream from his eyes that I haven't noticed before. I look away, and tears of my own start to form.

Chim's swings become harder. I feel anger coming from Chim, but the tears are still there. Caught off guard, I am barely able to defend myself. Chim slashes me a couple of times, but I don't care. At this point, only instincts are keeping me alive. Tears stream down both mine and Chim's cheeks because why does life have to be cruel enough to put two friends on opposite sides of a war? How much do I have to sacrifice to save the world?

I have to save the world. If I don't, everything will be gone. My friends will for sure die because everything will go wrong if Notch wins. I have to do this for my father, even though I'm not supposed to call him that. I have to do this for Ant. I have to do this for Chim and Ryan. I have to do this for my mom. (Italics) I have to do this for the world. (End italics)

I begin to fight back hard. Soon enough, Chim and I are evenly matched, both of us still crying because of the world's cruel nature. We both feel we have to fight, and destiny laid out this path for us. But we still hold back, because we don't want to kill each other. At least, I don't want to kill him. I know only one distraction and fast reflexes will determine the winner. I can't be distracted. I must do my duty, no matter what the cost.

Each swing becomes heavier, because of tiredness and the guilt. I'm fighting one of my friends for what I believe in. Is that what heroes do? Do they betray their friends? Pain came to me, snapping me out of my thoughts, and I can't see anything. I blindly swing forward, instinctively, with more strength than I had in this fight so far. The flat of my blade hits something, and the object is flung far away.

I realize what hurts so much. My eyes. Chim must have knocked my sunglasses off. I squint really hard until I find my sunglasses, then I put them back on. I look around for Chim, and I'm horrified to see Chim sprawled on the floor far away. I run over to him to see if he is okay. Instinctively, my feet kick the clouds up so I am hidden. As soon as I take one look at Chim, my heart breaks.

Blood. There is blood everywhere. His neck is slanted in a way that definitely isn't normal. His head is lopsided, with an expression of horror on his face. I don't blame him. The last thing he saw was who I really was. A monster. And right here, right now, is proof that I'm a monster. The tears increase as I look at the scene before me. I don't have to feel for a pulse to know what happened.

Chim is dead. And I killed him.

_**Sprinklez: I'M SORRY CHIMNEY SWIFT FANS! DON'T KILL MEH! I hope this chapter makes sense and gives you the feeling it's supposed to. If not, well... But yeah, my birthday happened recently so now I'm wiser and I'm older. So that's exciting, AND MY COMPUTER IS BEING A JERK RIGHT NOW! Okay, are you done yet computer? So anyway, I hope this works because if not, I'm going to rage. And be frustrate. And sad. And I'll be joining Celestia in hugging Herobrine.**_

_**Herobrine: Please work. I don't want another lunatic on me!**_

_**Celestia: *Grins evilly***_

_**Buttersquid: Hello!**_

_**Sprinklez: WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?**_

_**Buttersquid: I'm about to go kill blazes for strength potions. I'll be back in a while.**_

_**Sprinklez: That is not a good idea...**_

_**Buttersquid: Why?**_

_**Celestia: YOU DARE TO TOUCH MY PRECIOUS BLAZES? YOU WILL DIE!**_

_**Sprinklez: Also, to that one guest review, since I planned out the entire story before you reviewed, "Aurey" can't be a main character, but she will be mentioned, and possibly appear at the very end. Bye, and this better work!**_


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